1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a rim cleaning apparatus of a type for buffing the bead sealing portions of a vehicle wheel rim on which a tire is mounted.
Pneumatic tires are commonly mounted on wheels having a rim section in the form of a pair of side flanges defining opposed inner side surfaces forming the seat for the beads of the tire. After extended use, the interior surface of the rim, and particularly the areas immediately inwardly of the outer edges of the flanges which seat the tire beads, becomes dirty and rough due to infiltration of moisture and debris between the beads of the tire and the flanges of the rim. While the interior surfaces of the rim are initially made smooth so as to ensure a good seating of the tire beads, by the time it becomes necessary to remove the tire for maintenance or replacement, the lack of smoothness, which may be due mainly to rust, prevents the beads of the repaired or new tire from sealing, and as a result, the tire may not be capable of maintaining it's inflated pressure. As a result, it is necessary, or at least a good practice in tire maintenance, to clean the interior surface of the rim when a tire has been removed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most common practice for cleaning the rim is to use a hand wire brush, but because much the rust and dirt may be difficult to remove completely with a hand brush, the cleaning may not thoroughly prevent eventual sealing problems. As an alternative to the hand brush, it is also a common practice to use a hand powered tool of the type having a rotating wire brush. This approach is also time consuming, and as it becomes rather tedious ensuring that the brush is properly held so that even the interior concave corner is cleaned entirely around both flanges of the rim, the cleaning operation is often not carried out to completion. When the roughness is severe and possibly involving pocking of the surface, due to rust, the rim may be taken to a stationary grinding wheel on which a wire brush or special buffer wheel is mounted. Normally with this arrangement, however, it is necessary for the operator to hold the wheel and to maneuver it by hand so as to present the proper surfaces to the buffer wheel. This is difficult not only because of the weight of the wheel, but because of the size and shape of the wheel, the operator does not have a good view of the area being cleaned. With large wheels it is, of course, substantially impossible to handle the wheel manually for this type of cleaning.
Some specialized wheel cleaning machines have been developed, but have not been found to be entirely satisfactory. As a result, previously developed specialized machines have not been generally accepted in the industry. The machines, some of which are relatively complex, and therefore expensive, have either not been capable of doing a thorough cleaning job or they are not sufficiently versatile to operate satisfactory on all of the various shapes and sizes of wheels now used. While attempts have been made to include various means for allowing adjustments to the machine so as to accommodate the various wheel sizes and designs, such means may require more time to make the adjustment than the machine operator may wish to take. Even if such a machine would be provided, there would be a temptation for the mechanic to quickly wire brush the rim by hand rather than taking it to a separate area and then carrying out the required machine adjustments and rim mounting steps.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,038 to Henry and U.S. Pat. No. 2,150,462 to Schultz et al, there are shown rim finishing and rim cleaning machines wherein cleaning wheels are mounted for rotation on shafts parallel to the axis rotation of the rim to be cleaned. Shafts of the cleaning or buffing wheels are movable toward the rim, while remaining parallel to the axis of rotation of the rim. Schultz et al shows the use of one wire brush which is shaped to enter the rim and is detachably secured to the rim for the application of the brush best adapted for use with a particular rim. Henry shows a use of two buffing wheels mounted on a common power shaft and attached by way of set screws so that the spacing can be adjusted. With such arrangements, unless the wheels are correctly shaped for the profile of the rim and are accurately located, the various curved and grooved portions of the rim may not be thoroughly buffed during the cleaning operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,300 to Kunde et al shows a machine wherein the rim is clamped in a conventional tire changing machine with a buffing assembly attached to a cross tube which orbits the buffing assembly about the periphery of the rim as a cross bar is rotated. The buffing assembly is pivotable about axis parallel to the axis of orbit so as to be movable into contact with the rim. Two brushes are mounted on a common shaft by way of an elaborate wheel mounting means allowing the axial positioning of the pair of brush wheels as a unit. The mounting means together with a rim engaging roller are adjusted to provide an axial thrust on the brush wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,747 to Mola et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,665 to Evans et al relate to a brush assembly which includes a single buffing brush mounted on a power shaft parallel to the axis of rotation of the wheel. The brushing assembly is carried on a mounting arrangement which is pivoted to move the buffing brushes toward the rim. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,747, the brush wheel can be shifted axially and the wheel rim, includes a pivotable arrangement so as to turn the axis of the wheel relative to that of the shaft of the buffing brush to thereby assist in the brush in buffing otherwise unreached parts of the rim. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,665, the assembly which mounts the motor and the single buffer wheel can turn so as to allow the axis of the buffer wheel to turn relative to the axis of rotation of the rim. As in the structure of Mola et al, because only one buffing wheel can be used in such a structure, it is necessary to perform a separate cleaning steps for each side flange of the rim, and in the structure of Evans et al, the assembly mounting the motor and buffer wheel assembly is mounted for swiveling relative to the axis of rotation of the wheel.